A 40-year-old man drowned this Wednesday morning (April 30) in a lake in the Municipal Park, in the center of Belo Horizonte. Firefighters were called to the scene at around 11:30 am.
Witnesses said that the man had consumed alcoholic beverages and, drunk, jumped into the lagoon to swim. Park goers who were at the scene saw that the man drowned and shouted to two people who had a boat in the water. They went to the drowning point and one of them jumped to help the victim, who was 1.5m deep.
The victim was taken to the lakeshore and attended to by two doctors who were walking around the area. Firefighters arrived shortly after and began the cardiopulmonary resuscitation protocol with resuscitation maneuvers. Soon after, Samu attended and intubated the patient.
“When we arrived here at the park, we found two doctors and a nursing technician performing resuscitation maneuvers. We took over and used oxygen on the victim. The heart started beating again and he was taken in stable condition to João XXIII hospital”, reported the Cadet Lucas, from the Fire Department.
According to the military, witnesses said that the man showed signs of drunkenness and entered the lake of his own free will. “He was swimming when he apparently got his foot stuck in the mud at the bottom of the lake. Luckily, a worker here at the park, who has lifeguard training, carried out the rescue,” he added.
The man was taken to João XXIII Hospital after the cardiac arrest was reversed.
Due to the Labor Day holiday, the park is full and was not closed for work. In a note, Belo Horizonte City Hall reported that a team from Samu took the man to the hospital. The operation of the park was not affected, and the site remains open normally.
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